Spirits
Spirits are the form taken by material life once they have shed their physical bodies. When a being dies, their spirit is free from the bonds of the physical universe and is able to traverse numerous other realms. In most cases, upon shedding the mortal coil, a spirit will manifest on the Astral Plane which allows them to observe and occasionally affect the Midplane. They will remain there until found by a Reaper, whereupon they will be brought to Limbo where they will be judged for either ascension, reincarnation, or damnation. Not all spirits are immediately found though, and it is relatively common to find lost souls occasionally manifesting in the Midplane to haunt the living. While many believe that the spirit is a raw soul, this is not the case. The spirit body on the spirit planes behaves in much the same way the physical body does in the Midplane, providing a soul with a vessel with which to interact with their environment and enabling a sense of self. In fact, shedding of the spirit body is the final step in Enlightenment and is necessary for one to ascend into an ethereal being. 'Physiology' All physical beings possess both a spirit self and a physical self, and it is possible for a living being to use their spirit self to leave their body and explore other planes. However, the spirit self will always be anchored to the physical body and will return there immediately if the physical body is disturbed or the spirit body takes too much damage. It is only when the physical body expires and the connection to the material Universe is cut that a being becomes a spirit. Spirit bodies are made from a mysterious substance known as plasm. It has many features in common with the Astral Plane, and is highly mutable. While it can theoretically appear as anything, a being's spirit body is based heavily on a being's sense of themself. For this reason, most spirits reflect what they looked like when they were alive. Because the spirit body still projects Aura, spirits are able to be sensed by Aura sensitive races and even interacted with. However, because of the energy required to move between planes, the impression is very faint and is easily missed by beings without strong Aura Tuning abilities. The spirit body is said to be the manifestion of an individuals outlook of themselves, but it is also the barometer for where a being is on the path to ascension. A being who has accumulated good karma throughout their life/lives will become an increasingly radiant being. Likewise a being that accumulates bad karma will become increasingly dark and heavy until they are sent to Hell in order to burn off their sin. 'Powers' The spirit body is usually a mirror image of the physical body, and has much the same abilities. For instance a saran in his spirit body will be able to use flame powers because that's what they expect to have. However, because the spirit body is less "dense" than the physical body, most beings find their Aura channels are far more open in their spirit form and they feel far more powerful. Because of the mutable nature of the spirit body, movement between the planes is far easier in this form than the material form. Most spirits not rounded up and brought to Limbo exist on the Astral Plane, peering in at the living. If spirits are able to gather enough energy, the are able to manifest in the physical realm and affect it. However, it takes a great deal of energy to do so and even SS-Class spirits can only manifest in the Midplane for short periods of time, and even then they possess only a fraction of their power there and are easy to banish back to the spirit realms. 'Personality' Because they are made up from the consciousnesses of all life in the Universe, ghost's possess a wide variety of personalities. Upon the death of their mortal body, most spirits are in a state of confusion as to what has happened. Afterwards this confusion tends to become either acceptance whereupon they are discovered by a Reaper and sent on, or they will be overtaken by resentment and regret and will lash out, sometimes becoming Poltergeists. 'Culture and Society' Most of Spirit society is based around the Dead Kingdom Limbo, where spirits are shepharded so that they can be judged and sent to their proper place. Because of the tenuous nature of this process, a spirit can wait for what seems like an eternity before they are returned to the Cycle. Upon dying and shedding their mortal body, a spirit usually encounters an agent of the Dead King known as a Reaper, whose job it is to seek out lost spirits on the Astral Plane and send them to Limbo. Upon arriving in Limbo the spirit will generally find themselves in a bleak, gray desert. There they usually encounter other beings before they are rounded up by the Dead King's minions and taken to one of the Dead Cities where they face a Judge who determines the spirit's ultimate fate. Though he does not seem to be a Celestial, the Dead King is unspeakably powerful. He is said to have complete control over the Dead Realm and is able bend reality there however he likes. However, even he is subject to a higher power and is concerned only with keeping order within the Realm. It does happen that spirits upon dying will exist on the Astral Plane for long periods of time before they encounter a Reaper and are sent along to Limbo. Such spirits can often be confused as to their current state, in some cases being unaware that they are dead at all. Other spirits recognize their state and fearful of their eventual judgment will avoid or fight Reapers when they encounter them to avoid being sent. Spirits that stay too long in the Astral Plane consumed by negative emotions such as rage or regret run a risk of becoming Poltergeists, fearsome beings who are consumed with hate that viciously attack the living and spirits alike. 'Religion' Spirits are too diverse to have a single unified religion. While most are forced to recognize the authority of the Dead King, he makes no effort to attempt to be worshipped. 'Types of Spirits' There are many different kinds of spirits, though the lines between the classes have less to do with physical abilities and more to do with outlook. 'Ghosts' Ghosts are the most common type of spirit. 'Poltergeists' Poltergeists are a form of spirit that has been left to its own devices for too long and corrupted by wickedness. Spirits that become poltergeists take on a menacing appearance, a reflection of the blackness of their souls and they become viciously aggressive to other spirits and even living beings. Reapers are able to purify these spirts and send them straight to Limbo, and upon discovering a poltergeist will attempt to destroy it at all costs. 'Wraiths' Wraiths are spirits that have largely been extricated from the Cycle in order to stay as ghosts and achieve greater power. They are exceptionally strong, being said to be equal to the SS-Class of the SENTINEL Power Scale. The Dead King is a kind of Wraith called an Archwraith, similar to how the Demon Lords are exceptionally powerful Devils. Virgil, the Agent of the Guardian of Hell, Hela, is a wraith. Trivia - Beings with developed Aura powers are able to sense the presence of spirits. Depending on their level of power, they are able to even detect them when they are still on the Astral Plane or banish them from the material plane. - Gods and Devils are able to see ghosts clearly even if they are hiding on the Astral Plane. They can casually pull ghosts onto the Material Plane or destroy their projected form, making it nearly impossible for them to enter the material plane again. For this reason beings at the SS-Class power level are almost instinctively feared by spirits.